Soundous Moufakir, Actor, Founder and CEO, MoroMaa

Moroccan beauty rituals didn’t arrive in India with a celebrity endorsement or another imported skincare fad. It arrived with a childhood memory, a cultural instinct and a woman who realised that something deeply familiar to her was almost completely absent from the Indian beauty conversation.

Meet actor and entrepreneur Soundous Moufakir, Founder, MoroMaa, who grew up with argan oil, Nila, ghassoul, black Beldi soap, Kessa and the hammam not as exotic beauty discoveries, but as everyday rituals. Years later, after moving to India, she saw what others hadn’t: a striking white space in the beauty segment waiting to be filled.

That realisation became MoroMaa, launched in June 2026, and Soundous isn’t positioning it as simply another beauty brand borrowing from Morocco. Her larger ambition is far more ambitious… to build “M Beauty” into a category of its own, rooted in authentic Moroccan rituals but built for a new generation of consumers.

And the early signs have been compelling: MoroMaa sold out two products within its first two months, while a ₹1.5 crore investment from AJ VC has given the young brand fresh fuel to scale. But behind the business numbers is a fascinating founder story… one that spans Morocco, India, acting, an MBA in Finance and the conviction that sometimes your biggest business opportunity is hiding inside something you grew up taking for granted.

For Soundous, the journey isn’t about exporting Moroccan beauty to India. It is about translating a centuries-old philosophy of ingredient-led, ritual-driven self-care into a contemporary global language… without stripping away the culture that gave it meaning.

Here, in an exclusive interview with Sumita Chakraborty, Founder & Editor-in-Chief, TheGlitz, Soundous Moufakir, Founder, MoroMaa, opens up about growing up with Moroccan beauty rituals, spotting the gap in India’s beauty landscape, building MoroMaa from the ground up, navigating the worlds of acting, finance and entrepreneurship, and her ambitious vision of taking “M Beauty” from India to the world.

Over To Actor, Founder & CEO, MoroMaa – Soundous Moufakir

You grew up with Moroccan beauty rituals as part of everyday life. What were the rituals, ingredients or beauty secrets from your childhood that stayed with you… and eventually became the inspiration for MoroMaa?

Soundous Moufakir – I grew up seeing Moroccan beauty as a part of everyday life, not as something luxurious or complicated. Ingredients like argan oil, Nila, ghassoul, black Beldi soap and the Kessa were simply part of our rituals at home. The hammam was also something very familiar to me.

What stayed with me most was the philosophy behind these rituals. They were very ingredient-led, very natural and deeply connected to taking time for yourself. When I moved to India, I realised that these rituals that had been so normal to me were almost completely missing from the beauty conversation here.

That was really the beginning of MoroMaa. I didn’t want to simply bring Moroccan ingredients to India. I wanted to introduce the entire idea and ritual of Moroccan beauty in a way that felt authentic but also relevant to the Indian consumer.

Moving from Morocco to India and then building a beauty business here is quite a leap. What made you believe that Moroccan beauty could resonate with the Indian consumer?

Soundous Moufakir – Initially, it was actually quite instinctive. I knew what Moroccan beauty meant because I had grown up with it, and when I came to India, I noticed this huge white space. There was so much interest in global beauty trends, but Moroccan beauty wasn’t really being presented as its own category.

I also realised that Indian and Moroccan consumers have something important in common: we both have a strong relationship with traditional, ingredient-led beauty. So I felt there was a natural cultural connection.

The challenge was never whether Moroccan beauty could work. The challenge was how to introduce it authentically and educate people about why these ingredients and rituals matter. That is what we’ve been trying to build with MoroMaa.

You are an actress, entrepreneur and an MBA in Finance. How have these seemingly different worlds… entertainment, finance and beauty… shaped the way you are building MoroMaa?

Soundous Moufakir – I actually don’t see them as completely separate worlds anymore. Each one has taught me something that I use as a founder.

My MBA in Finance taught me to understand numbers, cash flow, margins and the business side of a company. Entertainment taught me storytelling, communication and how to connect with an audience. And building MoroMaa has taught me execution, resilience and the reality of being responsible for every little detail.

Being an actress also made me very comfortable with creativity and putting myself out there. As a founder, you have to be willing to be the face of your brand, tell your story and sometimes take risks without knowing exactly how people will respond.

I think all these experiences have come together in MoroMaa. And honestly, I don’t believe you need to fit into one box. My journey is proof that different experiences can eventually become an advantage.

You are positioning MoroMaa around “M Beauty” and bringing Moroccan beauty into the Indian market. What, in your view, makes Moroccan beauty distinct, and what do you think India is still discovering about it?

Soundous Moufakir – What makes Moroccan beauty special to me is its simplicity and the relationship it has with raw, traditional ingredients. Argan oil, Nila, ghassoul, Beldi soap and other Moroccan ingredients have been part of beauty rituals for generations.

I also think Moroccan beauty is much more about ritual than simply applying a product. The hammam, for example, is a whole experience of cleansing, exfoliating and caring for your skin and body.

India has always had its own beautiful traditional beauty rituals, so I think there is a natural curiosity towards Moroccan beauty. What we are trying to do with MoroMaa is give people a way to discover it properly, rather than reducing it to just another international beauty trend.

For me, M Beauty is not about copying K Beauty or any other beauty movement. It is about giving Moroccan beauty its own identity and bringing an authentic Moroccan perspective to the Indian market.

MoroMaa launched on June 27, 2026, and sold out two products within its first two months. What did that early response tell you about the Indian consumer and did anything about it surprise you?

Soundous Moufakir – The biggest thing it told me is that Indian consumers are much more curious and open to discovering new beauty categories than we sometimes assume.

When I started MoroMaa, I knew there was a gap, but I didn’t know how quickly people would understand what we were trying to build. Seeing products sell out so early gave me a lot of confidence that there was genuine curiosity and demand for Moroccan beauty.

What surprised me most was how much people connected with the story behind the products. They weren’t just buying an ingredient or a jar. They wanted to know where it came from, how it was traditionally used and how to incorporate the ritual into their own routines.

That reinforced something I strongly believe in: education has to be at the heart of the brand. If you are creating a new category, you can’t just sell the product. You have to tell people the story behind it.

As a solo founder and CEO, you are wearing several hats at once. What has been the most challenging part of building MoroMaa from the ground up, and what has been the most rewarding?

Soundous Moufakir – The hardest part has been realising that as a founder, everything ultimately comes back to you. Product, hiring, cash flow, marketing, packaging, operations, customers, content, partnerships… there is always another decision to make.

MoroMaa started very small, and for a long time I was involved in almost every single part of the business. It can be overwhelming, but it also gives you an incredible understanding of your company.

The most rewarding part is seeing something that existed only in my head become real. Watching someone discover a Moroccan ingredient for the first time, use it, love it and then come back to tell us about their experience is incredibly fulfilling.

I think the most special thing is that I started MoroMaa because I personally felt the absence of Moroccan beauty in India. Today, there is a community of people discovering these rituals with us. That feels much bigger than just building a business.

With the ₹1.5 crore investment from AJ VC, MoroMaa has entered an important new phase. What is your larger ambition for the brand… do you see MoroMaa becoming a Moroccan beauty brand for India, or eventually a global “M Beauty” brand born in India?

Soundous Moufakir – The ambition is definitely bigger than just creating a Moroccan beauty brand for India.

India is where we are starting because I believe there is a huge opportunity here to build the category properly. But ultimately, I want MoroMaa to become a global M Beauty brand, one that introduces people around the world to authentic Moroccan beauty and Moroccan rituals.

What is important to me is that we don’t lose authenticity while scaling. I want the sourcing, ingredients, rituals and storytelling to remain connected to Morocco, while the innovation, business and brand-building can happen from India.

The investment gives us the opportunity to build that foundation properly. For me, this isn’t just about selling more products. It’s about creating a category, building a community around M Beauty and making Moroccan beauty something people around the world recognise and understand.

TheGlitz Take

Moroccan beauty hasn’t simply arrived in India… it’s bringing an entirely different beauty philosophy with it. Soundous Moufakir’s MoroMaa taps into India’s growing appetite for ingredient-led, ritual-rich beauty, but its real ambition is bigger: to give Moroccan beauty its own global identity. If K-Beauty had its moment, M Beauty may just be waiting in the wings.